Some topics are off limits, including how Kleihege, a 2009 graduate of Haslett High School who earned his undergraduate degree at Michigan State University, fared on the upcoming 36th season of the CBS reality show.

But show host Jeff Probst thinks Kleihege, 26, is one of the contestants you should pay attention to when the show premieres Wednesday.

Probst singled him out, along with a few others among the show's cast of 20, as someone he expected big things from before filming began last summer from the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji.

“I love Bradley, because Bradley is almost like my alter-ego in a way,” Probst told Entertainment Weekly on camera earlier this month. “He’s so arrogant and so confident that I can see myself in him. I’m just not as smart as him, as clever as him, or any of those things...

“If we could have a Bradley on every season I’d be happy and, one of these days, a guy like Bradley’s going to win it.”

What does Kleihege have to say about his turn on the show?

There's more survival in "Survivor" than strategy or schemes, even if viewers don't always see that on screen, Kleihege said.

“You very quickly learn that, if a snail is big enough to take off the digestive tract, that’s good because that tastes real gnarly," he said. “You get pretty good at figuring out which coconut’s going to be rotten inside and which ones not. There’s such a learning curve to all of that stuff, and, when you’re so hungry, it has devastating consequences. You still eat it. It’s just awful.”

It may sound rough, but Kleihege's been a "Survivor" fan since childhood, and the experience didn't disappoint him in the least.

He submitted a two-minute video to the show's casting department showcasing his ability to deal with different personalities. It was a “mini ‘Survivor episode,’ Kleihege said, based on his life.

“I didn’t exactly think I would get on," he said. "I applied because I didn’t want to look back, maybe when the show’s not being made anymore or when I’m older, and say, 'You know, why didn’t I ever try?'”

His entire family watches the show, his mother Judy Kleihege said in an email to the State Journal, but Bradley is "the super fan" among them."

"This has been a dream of his for a long time," she said.

He wasn't cast the season he applied, but the show's staff encouraged him to continue submitting audition videos for new seasons. A year ago, Kleihege made the final cut.

The cast and crew spent about a month and a half on location in June and July, but the show's victor won't be named until the live season finale when the cast’s final votes will be read aloud live. That’s scheduled to air in May.

According to CBS.com "Survivor: Ghost Island" centers around "the bad decisions of past players. In a new twist, players may be sent to a separate haunted island filled with Survivor relics from the previous 35 seasons of the show. The question is: will these new players be able to learn from the past mistakes of others and 'reverse the curse,' or will the past come back to haunt them?"

Kleihege said the "social experiment" at the heart of every "Survivor" season is what he loves about the show.

"To me, that’s so interesting, how you can take people from different parts of the country who do different things, have different beliefs, and you put them together and see how they interact and what kind of bonds they can form."

Contestants learn quickly not to be wary of the cameras that surround them, he said.

“The first day you’re hyper-aware,” Kleihege said. “The game starts, and you’re there. Jeff says ‘Welcome to ‘Survivor: Ghost Island’ and you’re like ‘Oh my God. There are like, a hundred or more cameras.’ It’s crazy.”

“That goes right out the window," Kleihege said. "As soon as the game starts there are far more important things to worry about.”

He did try to make sure the cameras were trained on him during “strategic conversations" with castmates though. Viewers can expect to see him call things out as he sees them.

“I think it’s a game," Kleihege said. "What’s so cool is, Survivor’s been on for so long that, in the 36th season, almost everyone goes into the game with that exact same mindset. If everyone went into saying, 'I don’t want to lie to anyone or deceive anyone,' that makes it far less interesting to watch and a lot less interesting to play.”

How does he think he'll come across on TV?

As himself, Kleihege said, albeit at times an “exaggerated version.”

“I wasn’t trying to play a character. I don’t think you can. It just doesn’t work when you’re out there and there’s no food and you aren’t really sleeping. I think it quickly kind of shows you how people are.”

“There’s this assumption that all of us that played, the 20 of us, are not friends. We definitely are. It doesn’t matter how anyone plays. Going through this experience with them, it made all of us close, and that can’t be understated.”

He'll celebrate with family and friends in Michigan a week later, he said.

Judy Kleihege said her son is "intelligent and confident," and possesses characteristics that will help him compete to win on "Survivor."

"Bradley is very observant and can read people well," she said. "This is going to be a bit surreal, seeing him on TV on a show we have watched since he was a youngster. Friends and family have been so enthusiastic about him being on the show. We are all rooting for him!"

Kleihege said, whatever the outcome, he formed bonds with cast mates that will last a lifetime and got the chance to step outside his comfort zone in a big way.

“It was just a really cool experience to step away from life and figure out what you’re made of," he said. "It is a TV show, but it’s also just this really kind of powerful adventure and experience.”

Contact Rachel Greco at (517) 528-2075 or rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ.